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{{for|the planned Russian-Chinese lunar base ILRS|International Lunar Research Station}}
{{Infobox military unit
|unit_name=Indian Long Range Squadron
|image=
|caption=
|dates=1941–1945
|country=
|branch=[[British Indian Army]]
|type=
|role=Reconnaissance<br />Raiding
|size=
|command_structure=[[Long Range Desert Group]]
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|motto=
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|march=
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|equipment=
|equipment_label=
|battles=[[World War II]]
|anniversaries=
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|battle_honours=
|disbanded=

|commander1=
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|commander2=
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}}

The '''Indian Long Range Squadron''' or '''ILRS''' was a unit of the [[British Indian Army]] during [[World War II]]. It was formed by asking for volunteers from the [[2nd Lancers (Gardner's Horse)|2nd Lancers]], [[11th Prince Albert Victor's Own Cavalry (Frontier Force)|11th Cavalry]] and the [[18th King Edward's Own Cavalry|18th Cavalry]] all part of the [[3rd Indian Motor Brigade]].<ref name=mo23>Molinari, p.23</ref> It was originally formed to patrol the borders between the [[Soviet Union]] and [[Persia]] and [[Afghanistan]].
Their first known deployment was in January 1942, involving a very small party, which provided an escort to an [[India Office|Indian Office]] civil servant, the diplomat Sir [[Clarmont Skrine]]. The party traveled by road from [[Quetta]] in modern-day [[Pakistan]] through the ‘East Persian Corridor’, one of the many Allied supply routes to the Soviet Union through Persia, to take up his post as British [[consul-general]] in [[Mashhad]], a large city in north-east Persia near the borders with Afghanistan and modern-day [[Turkmenistan]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://theconversation.com/british-empires-hidden-workings-in-india-and-iran-revealed-in-remarkable-new-film-footage-90958|title=British Empire's hidden workings in India and Iran revealed in remarkable new film footage|first=Jonathan|last=Westaway|website=The Conversation}}</ref>

The ILRS was trained by and performed some missions with, but was not a part of, the [[Long Range Desert Group]] (LRDG). With the end of the [[Battle of the Mareth Line]] on 29 March 1943, the ILRS was released from the LRDG by [[Bernard Montgomery|Field Marshal Montgomery]] as it was unlikely to find further scope for its activities in the country the [[Eighth Army (United Kingdom)|Eighth Army]] was then entering (northern [[Tunisia]]).<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.lrdg.org/indian-long-range-patrol.html|title=Long Range Desert Group Preservation Society - Indian Long Range Desert Squadron 1941-1947|website=www.lrdg.org}}</ref>

Returning to India the ILRS was deployed in May 1944 to [[Zahedan]], a city in Persia located near the tripoint of the borders of Afghanistan, [[Baluchistan (Chief Commissioner's Province)|Baluchistan Province]] of [[British India]] and Persia, where it saw the war out patrolling the volatile border to discourage any Soviet infiltration into this oil-rich border region.<ref>From: Some Talk of Private Armies by Len Whittaker (Published 1984) via: https://kclpure.kcl.ac.uk/portal/files/2929338/521594.pdf, p. 36</ref>

On VJ-Day, 2 September 1945 the ILRS was based at [[Multan]] (now in Pakistan) and in August 1946 it formed part of Force 401, a brigade strong formation sent to [[Basra]], [[Iraq]] (the last Indian Army expeditionary force sent abroad) and the brigade returned to India in June-August 1947.<ref>From Oral History interview of ILRS officer https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/80011947 </ref>

The end for the ILRS came on 4 August 1947, when the unit was disbanded at their Quetta (now Pakistan) depot by Major Samuel McCoy.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://collection.nam.ac.uk/detail.php?q=searchType%3Dsimple%26simpleText%3Dpartition%26themeID%3D%26resultsDisplay%3Dlist%26page%3D2&pos=10&total=34&page=2&acc=2013-10-20-24-39 | title=Cap badge, Indian Long Range Desert Squadron, Indian Armoured Corps, 1941-1947 | Online Collection | National Army Museum, London }}</ref>

==Formation==
The ILRS was formed on 25 December 1941, and comprised four patrols: 'J' ([[Jat]]), 'P' ([[Punjabi people|Punjabi]]), 'M' ([[Muslim]]) and 'S' ([[Sikh]]). In December 1941, when 'J' and 'R' ([[Rajput]]) patrols were attached to the LRDG, their designations were changed to 'I1' and 'I2' to avoid confusion with the [[New Zealand]] 'R' Patrol. In October 1942, the other two Indian patrols, 'M' and 'S', were also attached to the LRDG and became 'I3' and 'I4' patrols.<ref name=mo23/>

The commander of the ILRS was [[Major]] Samuel Mcoy [[Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire|MBE]],<ref>''[[London Gazette]]'', 18 October 1943</ref> the patrol commanders were:

*'J' Patrol [[Lieutenant]] James Edward Cantlay<ref>{{cite web|accessdate=25 May 2010|publisher=Indian Army Officers, 1939–1945|title=C|url=http://www.unithistories.com/officers/IndianArmy_officers_C01.html}}</ref>
*'P' Patrol [[Captain (land)|Captain]] Travers John Durrant Birdwood<ref>{{cite web|accessdate=25 May 2010|publisher=Indian Army Officers, 1939–1945|title=B|url=http://www.unithistories.com/officers/IndianArmy_officers_B01.html}}</ref>
*'M' Patrol Captain Alan Browning Rand<ref>{{cite web|accessdate=25 May 2010|publisher=Indian Army Officers, 1939–1945|title=R|url=http://www.unithistories.com/officers/IndianArmy_officers_R01.html}}</ref>
*'S' Patrol Lieutenant Gilbert William Nangle<ref>{{cite web|accessdate=25 May 2010|publisher=Indian Army Officers, 1939–1945|title=N|url=http://www.unithistories.com/officers/IndianArmy_officers_N01.html}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}
*Molinari, Andrea. ''Desert raiders: Axis and Allied Special Forces 1940-43''. Botley, UK: Osprey Publishing, 2007. {{ISBN|1-84603-006-4}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2017}}

[[Category:Army reconnaissance units and formations]]
[[Category:Military units and formations established in 1941]]
[[Category:Military units and formations of India in World War II]]

Indian Long Range Squadron - Revision history

Bot at 07:42, 10 December 2022